


Leave It Up To Me

by fackinglouis



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: American AU, M/M, Uni AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-13
Updated: 2014-11-13
Packaged: 2018-02-25 05:10:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,031
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2609714
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fackinglouis/pseuds/fackinglouis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <em>“They didn’t have the scent I wanted, but I did get the milk,” a deep voice says and Louis startles, turning to find someone who is very decidedly not Zayn in his car. He’s frowning and bending forward to put his bag on the floor by his feet and Louis slowly unbuckles his seatbelt just in case he’s about to be murdered and needs to make a run for it. </em>
</p>
<p>  <em>“The fuck are you doing?” Louis asks, eyebrows raised and voice high in confusion. </em></p>
<p>  <em>The guy jumps then, sitting back up and looking at Louis with wide, wide green eyes. He looks around in shock and then back at Louis and blushes. “Uhm,” he draws out slowly and then continues politely with, “I’m very sorry. I got in the wrong car.” </em></p>
<p>Or the one where Harry has a bad habit of popping in places he's not allowed and Louis just wants to kiss him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Leave It Up To Me

**Author's Note:**

> [Originally inspired by this text post!](http://proudofus.tk/post/100014676794/oddly-specific-aus-i-need) Also, heavily inspired by my dear friend Gaythann's musings, [find her here on tumblr!](http://www.harrystylesbeanie.tumblr.com). This was honest to god written in a day, so please excuse anything wonky you find. I still don't have a beta. 
> 
> Title comes from Leave It Up To Me by The Mowgli's so check it out. It's a rad tune. 
> 
> Also, when Harry talks about scents, he was looking for a scented candle. Totally forgot to add that in somewhere.

 Louis puts his car in park and looks down at his favorite jumper, now complete with a giant spill of cooling tea down the front. Zayn sits in the passenger seat and shakes his head with a laugh. “Maybe now you’ll stop bringing mugs into the car, yeah babe?” he asks and Louis lets out a long, suffering sigh. 

 Before the spill, he was _just_ pulling off the cutely frumpy look, with his pajama pants and his baggy sweater. Anybody that would have seen him would have thought he was cute and comfy and good for a cuddle. But the spill tilts the look over into sloppy territory and Louis can’t be seen in public like this. “I can’t go in with you. You’ll have to go by yourself. I’ll wait here.” 

Zayn looks put out for a few seconds, but ultimately shakes his head and gets out of the car. He knows better by now than to challenge Louis. Which, good, he’s going to be living with the guy for the rest of the year and life is going to go much smoother if everybody just listens to Louis. 

Louis watches Zayn walk into the grocery store and idly hopes he remembers to pick up his favorite biscuits. His mug of tea is still half-way full and sitting on-top of the cupholder as it’s too round to fit inside. Louis takes a final, farewell sip before rolling down the window and pouring the rest out bitterly. 

He’s just unlocking his phone and swiping through his apps to open a game or his twitter when the door opens again and the car shifts under a new weight. Louis’ about to voice his surprise at Zayn’s quickness, but he’s beat to it. 

“They didn’t have the scent I wanted, but I did get the milk,” a deep voice says and Louis startles, turning to find someone who is very decidedly _not_ Zayn in his car. He’s frowning and bending forward to put his bag on the floor by his feet and Louis slowly unbuckles his seatbelt just in case he’s about to be murdered and needs to make a run for it. 

“The fuck are you doing?” Louis asks, eyebrows raised and voice high in confusion. 

The guy jumps then, sitting back up and looking at Louis with wide, wide green eyes. He looks around in shock and then back at Louis and blushes. “Uhm,” he draws out slowly and then continues politely with, “I’m very sorry. I got in the wrong car.” 

Despite the fact that he’s a total stranger and is still making no attempt to get up and out of Louis’ car, Louis can appreciate the fact that he’s terribly endearing. His hair is long and curls in different directions and his shoulders seem massively broad in Louis’ tiny, tiny car. 

The stranger shuffles around again and pulls out a package of tissues from his pocket, pulling one out neatly and handing it over to Louis with a cautious smile. Louis stays still and purses his lips. “You’ve got something on your-“ he explains and nods to Louis’ jumper. 

Louis blushes and snatches the tissue out of his hand. He wants to smash his head into the steering wheel a couple thousand times. He specifically did not go inside so he wouldn’t be seen by any cute boys. Yet, obviously the universe hates him, because they sent a cute boy out to him. Louis hates his life, honestly. “Thanks,” he says and snatches the tissue from the extended hand. “Stopped short at a light and spilt tea all over myself,” Louis grumbles and dabs his jumper aggressively. 

When Louis looks up from his chest, the guy is holding up his mug and nodding. “You should get a thermos,” he tells Louis, and then adds “Probably,” as if he’s worried about being too harsh or demanding. Louis just rolls his eyes and grabs his mug back from the stranger. 

“I’d be more apt to take advice from you if you weren’t the type to get into random cars,” Louis huffs and sets his mug back down. “ _Probably_.” He thinks he’s being a bit rude, but the stranger laughs all the same, loud and happy, nodding along. 

“I’m Harry, by the way,” the stranger says once his laughter dies down, holding out his hand. Louis tries very hard not to zero in on the size of the paw he’s offering and shakes Harry’s hand. It takes all his strength, especially when his hand is dwarfed in Harry’s.

Louis opens his mouth to introduce himself, but Zayn taps on the window then. He’s bent outside Harry’s window, mouth set in a hard line and brows furrowed, eyeing the stranger in his seat warily. “Louis?” 

Louis is almost sad to see Zayn. He rolls down his window instead of making Harry get out of the car just yet and leans over the console, further into Harry’s space. “Hello, Zayn. This is Harry. He got in my car and won’t leave.” 

Zayn turns to stare at Harry, face pinching up even more. “What the-“ 

“No! No- I mean, yes. But I didn’t mean it! Liam, my mate Liam, he has the same car. And he was parked around here so I thought this was his car,” Harry rushes to defend himself, holding his hands up and looking around the car park at the same time. His face lights up when he turns to his left and points out Louis’ window. “Look!” 

There, in the spot next to him, sits the same car as Louis’. The man in the drivers seat- Liam, Louis assumes, is looking at them all in bewilderment, waving to Harry slowly. Louis laughs and waves back. “Look at that, how funny! He was sat right beside us the whole time.” 

Zayn makes a noise of agreement, but his face isn’t all that amused. It probably has to do with the fact that he is still holding the bags of groceries and Harry is still in his seat. Harry laughs along with Louis and bends to grab his milk off the floor. “Guess I should go.” 

Louis nods and moves his hands to rest on the steering wheel so they don’t do something silly like pull out his phone and demand a number. The cooling tea soaked into his jumper is sticking to his skin uncomfortably and reminding him that no matter how great a story this will be to tell at parties in years to come, it won’t be the one he tells to his children when they ask how their parents met. “Yeah, guess so,” Louis sighs. 

Harry sits in the seat for a few more seconds, just smiling at Louis, gives a small nod, and finally opens the car door and hops out. He waves to Louis after he gets in the right car and Louis rewards him with his biggest smile yet. And then Liam is pulling out and his very cute stranger is gone. How anticlimactic. 

“What just happened?” Zayn asks when he settles back in his seat. He pulls a cigarette out from behind his ear and lights it, staring over at Louis with knowing eyes. 

Louis pulls out of the parking space and shrugs. He’s not exactly sure what to say at the moment; he’s torn between lamenting over how weird that all was and how gorgeous Harry was and wondering why he didn’t drive off with him when he had the chance. 

-*-*-*-*-

Back in the apartment, the fridge is finally full of something other than Niall’s beer and Louis smiles proudly before shutting the door. The front is covered in a few pictures of the three of them- Louis, Niall, and Zayn, during their freshman year, held up by the alphabet magnets Louis bought at a yard sale last week.

He also bought an elephant lamp and a cool, fish shaped bowl for the bathroom at the same yard sale. It was a very good day, all in all. Their apartment is slowly coming together. It’s glorious. 

Niall wanders into the kitchen and scratches at his cheek, smiling when he spots Louis. He looks like he just got out of bed, which he probably did despite it being well past two in the afternoon. “Zayn said you two went shopping.” Louis nods and steps out of the way. 

“Party’s set for Friday,” Niall tells him, leaning agains the open door of the fridge. Louis nods again. Not only is it their first Friday in their new apartment, but it’s also their last Friday before classes start again. So, a party seemed like the only appropriate thing to do. 

Louis’ very excited about it all. He hasn’t thrown a party since high school when Jay used to take the girls to her parents for the weekend. The last two years have been spent in a cramped dorm and he’s finally ready to spend all night partying and the next day cleaning up other people’s messes. 

“Sweet,” Louis says, moving to the other side of the door so he can artfully arrange the alphabet magnets into curse words. 

-*-*-*-*-

On Louis’ calendar above his desk, he’s marked the whole day off with _PARTY_ in big, sharpie letters. 

It’s a very good thing because after too many missed and forgotten deadlines last year, Zayn bought him the calendar in hopes of improving his organizational skills. Louis’ been training himself to use it, one party at a time. But in blocking off Friday solely for the party, Louis’ left nothing else for himself to do. 

He’s been lying on the couch for hours, watching shit programs on Netflix, by the time it hits seven. Louis figures he has time for a couple more episodes before people start showing up and pulls his blanket up to his chin. 

He’s only a couple minutes into the next episode when someone starts knocking on the door. Louis ignores it and waits for Niall or Zayn to hear it and answer. Fortunately, he doesn’t have to wait long, but unfortunately there are now people in the house, talking to Niall and following him into the living room where Louis is trying to relax. 

Louis rolls onto his side so he can watch the doorway wearily and lets out an incredulous laugh when he sees who it is. “Don’t tell me you don’t know which apartment is yours either,” Louis hedges and pushes himself up to sit. 

Harry looks just as surprised as Louis feels, holding a platter of what appears to be muffins and standing beside Niall in the doorway. “Louis?” If it’s possible, Harry looks even better than he did last time. His shirt is halfway unbuttoned and his jeans are insanely tight and Louis subtly runs his fingers through his hair, making sure everything is in place. 

“You two know each other?” Niall asks, more excited than confused. It shouldn’t be a surprise that Niall knows Harry, Louis realizes. Niall knows _everybody_. 

“Harry here has a habit of jumping in stranger’s cars,” Louis nodded to which Niall just accepts easily and excuses himself to the kitchen to grab a drink. Last time Louis checked, the counter was covered in a ridiculous amount of alcohol, but Niall’s been working at it all day. He’s ‘pre-gaming’ and Louis’ sure there’s got to be a sizable dent by now. 

“Are those muffins?” Louis narrows his eyes at the plate Harry’s still holding and tilts his head in confusion. 

Harry nods excitedly and smiles widely, moving closer to show Louis his platter. “Yeah, d’you want one? There still warm, I bet. Pulled them out of the oven not too long ago. There’s banana and chocolate chip and-“ 

“You made muffins for a house party?” Louis laughs and throws the blanket from his lap to over the back of the couch. He’s hoping Harry will take the hint and take the seat beside him. 

“Of course,” Harry says, peeling back the plastic wrap a bit. Louis can smell them from his spot on the couch and his mouth almost waters. They smell incredible. “For a house warming party.” 

Louis tries, and fails, to swallow his laughter at this clueless, clueless boy. Louis isn’t sure how to break it to Harry that he won’t be attending a nice, little house warming party tonight, so he doesn’t. Instead he reaches his hand out and looks to Harry expectantly. “Give a chocolate chip one here.” 

Harry drops to the seat beside him and hands Louis a muffin on a napkin because apparently he’s also got a stack of napkins on his platter. “Careful, you’ll get crumbs in between the cushions.”Louis’ never met anybody like him. 

The muffin tastes as good as it smells and Louis moans loudly. Harry’s gorgeous and and he’s got big hands _and_ he’s a good baker and Louis is certain he’s the type that it’d be easy to fall madly in love with. 

“I didn’t know you lived with Niall,” Harry smiles, looking around at their lovely, shabby, little place. 

“Yep,” Louis manages to get out around a mouthful of muffin. “Me, Niall, and Zayn moved in last week. How do you know Niall?” 

“We had the same class last year.” 

They sit there for a long while more, even after more guests start to filter in and bodies crowd the seats around them. Louis doesn’t mind too much, though, since it crowds Harry closer to him. Somewhere along the line Harry realizes that he’s the only one that showed up with food and blushes and they laugh together and lean into each other’s spaces and Louis has an idea with where this is headed. 

He’s got a hand on Harry’s knee— put there after he leaned in once to hear what Harry was saying when the music was turned up and left in the same place long after. They’re both nursing their drinks and having a good time and Louis feels content to sit here on the couch for the rest of the night at his own party. 

Normally he’d be smashed by now, dancing somewhere on a table or with a cute boy, but Harry is enough to keep him occupied and all he’s doing is telling dumb jokes and stories about the first time his roommate sexiled him and about weird customers that come into the bakery he works at. 

“And then I—“

“Louis!” Niall calls, leaning around the doorframe. “Come to the kitchen.” 

Giving up his spot beside Harry is the absolute last thing he wants to do, but Niall yells his name again and Harry waves him away with a smile. Grudgingly, Louis gets up, stretching out after having sat for so long, and makes his way into the kitchen for the first time since the party started. The whole house is crowded, but the kitchen is packed tight with people around the counter, pouring new drinks and splashing sticky beer all over the floor. It’s chaos. 

The reason Niall tore him away from Harry turns out to be some mutual friend they all share that was asking for him or something equally stupid, but Louis plays along and chats for a couple minutes. 

By the time he can break away, Harry’s chatting to who Louis recognizes as Liam and the pretty girl Liam’s wrapped around. Louis shrugs, not too bent out of shape about it. The night is still young. He has plenty of time to talk to Harry and kiss Harry and show Harry his bedroom. 

-*-*-*-*- 

Two hours later, Louis stumbles from the kitchen, beer sloshing over the side of the purple plastic wine glass he found in the cupboard. He’s refused to drink out of anything else since then, going as far as to raise his pinky disdainfully when people question him about it. This is his party and he figures his classy, plastic wine glass is akin to the tiaras people wear on their birthday. 

Louis is also very, very drunk. 

He catches his balance against a wall and crows happily when Harry turns a corner and appears in Louis’ line of vision. “Harry!” 

Harry waves with one hand and holds his normal, plastic party cup in the other. “Hello. I was looking for you earlier.” 

Louis frowns and leans closer to Harry. “All these people wanted to talk to me. I didn’t want to talk to them, but I had to be a good host.” 

“It is your party after all,” Harry nods understandingly, mirroring Louis and leaning in a couple of inches. 

“Right, it’s my house _warming_ party,” Louis says, winks over-exaggeratedly, and tries to nudge Harry, but only ends up spilling more of his drink over himself this time. He looks down dumbly at his shirt and then back up to Harry, an angry set to his mouth. “Why does this always happen when you’re around?” 

Harry pulls out another packet of tissues from his back pocket and offers Louis one with an amused smile. “Do you want me to get you some water?” 

“No,” Louis shakes his head, dabbing at his t-shirt without looking. If he was paying any attention, he’d see he was dabbing a perfectly good spot that hadn’t been spilt over, but Louis’ too busy smiling at Harry to notice. “Hey, do you want a tour of the place?” 

Harry agrees and Louis leads him down the hallway, pointing out the door for the bathroom, Niall’s room, Zayn’s room, and then his own room. Really, it isn’t so much of a tour as it is an excuse to get Harry in his bedroom. 

“Ta da,” Louis cheers and throws open his door. His room is admittedly not that much, but he’s still unpacking so it’s not his fault. He shuffles forward, putting his cup down on his night stand a little too hard and pulling the chain on his elephant lamp so there’s light. 

“Very nice,” Harry hums appreciatively, looking around and smiling down at Louis when he plops down on his bed. 

“Do you still have those muffins?” Louis asks out of nowhere, toeing off his shoes and kicking them across the floor. “They were so good.” 

Harry sits beside him, the bed dipping under his added weight, and nods. “I saved you the last two and hid them in your kitchen.” 

“You’re such a sweetheart, Harry, you’re so wonderful,” Louis praises, falling backwards and stretching out. “I could kiss you.” 

Harry chuckles and twists so he can lean down beside Louis, propping himself up on an elbow. His long hair is hanging down in front of Louis’ face and Louis wants to both reach out and twist it around his finger and pull it. He doesn’t do either, though, his limbs are starting to feel heavier the longer he lies down. “You’re very intoxicated, Louis,” Harry says and smiles sweetly, resting a big palm over Louis’ belly. “We should get you to bed.” 

Louis yawns in response and puts his hand over Harry’s. He makes a noncommittal noise and lets his eyes slide shut, all of a sudden too tired to put any effort into getting Harry to kiss him. At least he got him into his room, that’s enough for Louis to be proud of. 

-*-*-*-*-

Louis is sideways across his bed when he wakes up the next morning, yet he’s tucked in neatly all the same. His pillows are even on the wrong side with him and he throws an arm over his eyes, trying to remember switching the layout of his bed. 

Things make more sense when Louis sits up and spots the cup of water on his nightstand with a post-it saying _Drink me!_ and a smiley face drawn underneath. Next to the water is the bottle of Advil he keeps in his medicine cabinet and next to that is his phone, plugged in and charged up. 

Louis smiles to himself and crawls over to grab the water. He’s not in as bad a shape as he expected and the added bonus of waking up to the leftover adorableness that is Harry has him in a great mood. His phone is lit up with notifications and Louis grabs that as well, falling back against the pillows and unlocking his phone. 

_hiii don’t forget to drink the water. hope you're not too poorly x_

It’s from Harry, who must have added his number while he was taking care of him. There’s a couple smiley faced emojis after his name and one of a blue car and Louis laughs. He opens his messages to reply, but his thumbs hover over the keyboard for a moment, not quite sure what to say. Louis’ pretty sure _you’re perfect husband material_ and _come over right now_ isn’t going to cut it. Neither will a string of suggestive emojis. He does make sure to add an extra ‘x’ though, just to see. 

_hey thanks for everything !!! hope i didn’t embarrass myself too much xx_

Louis hits send and then sticks his tongue out in disgust when he sees that Harry has the little read notifications that tell you when exactly he saw the text. Louis ignores far too many text messages to ever turn the service on and openly judges those who do. Though, Harry doesn’t seem like the type to ignore anyone so he probably doesn’t need to worry about that. Harry Styles keeps it real, he supposes. 

_happy to help. xxx_  

Louis looks at the three little ‘x’s’ and purses his lips. Now he can’t tell whether Harry’s playing along and adding an extra ‘x’ or if he really means it. “Well played,” Louis murmurs to himself and then locks his phone, rolling over to go back to bed.

-*-*-*-*-

Classes have started and Louis’ got a pile of books on his desk and deadlines on his calendar, but instead he’s standing in front of the bathroom sink, filling the fish shaped bowl up with water and then dumping it out. It’s strangely entertaining and Zayn hasn’t yelled at him for running the water yet. 

The door swings open and even though Louis’ not exposed or using the toilet, he still screams like he is. It’s really just the principle of being walked in on in the bathroom. There should always be screaming and blushing and apologies. 

Louis expects Zayn to roll his eyes and push him out or Niall to shrug and walk in anyway to use the bathroom while he’s still in there. He does not expect Harry Styles to shout and cover his eyes and fall backwards against the door frame. “‘M sorry!” he yells and proceeds to stumble forward and try to maneuver his way out of the bathroom with his eyes covered. 

Louis struggles with the decision to let this happen or to save Harry from further embarrassment. He watches as Harry smacks his hip with the doorknob and groans and sighs loudly. “Harry! I was just washing my hands, for gods sake.”

Harry drops his hand from his eyes and turns to Louis. “Oh, ha,” he says. “Sorry.” 

“You really do have a habit of jumping into places you’re not allowed, huh?” Louis raises an eyebrow and fills up his fish bowl once more. 

“The door was unlocked, I thought—” 

Louis dumps out the bowl and shakes his head, silencing Harry. “Why are you here anyway?” 

“Niall and I have a class together this semester. I’m giving him a ride to campus,” Harry shrugs. 

Louis wants to make a joke about how Harry is _finally using his own car, huh?_ but he doesn’t want to overdo it and kill the joke already. He wants this to last forever. Louis wants to be able to text Harry a car emoji when they’re old and grey and have it still be funny. “Cool,” he says. 

Harry shifts uncomfortably and folds his hands together in front of him, smiling funnily at Louis. 

“What’s wrong with you?” Louis questions and finally shuts off the water, setting his favorite fish bowl down. He crosses his arms over his chest and leans one hip against the edge of the counter. 

“I’ve really got to go,” Harry admits. 

Louis laughs and rolls his eyes, pushing off the counter and by Harry through the doorway. “It’s all yours, big boy. Don’t forget to lock the door.” Louis shuts the door and turns around to find Zayn standing a couple feet away, watching him with a grimace. 

“Who taught you to flirt?” 

Louis flips him off and stomps to his room. 

-*-*-*-*-

Somewhere between Harry’s biweekly visits to the apartment to pick Niall up for class and the times they end up out together with the rest of the boys, Louis’ sole purpose shifts from getting Harry to kiss him to just spending as much time as he can with him. 

It’s almost silly how all consuming his crush becomes. Louis always makes sure to be out in the living room when Niall has Harry over and he always, always makes sure to somehow snag the seat next to him when they go to the pub or out to eat. And Harry never seems to mind, just smiles at Louis and shows him some funny pictures or tweets. 

Harry’s also started texting him a lot more. It’s gotten to the point that he’ll text Louis and let him know when he’s going to be over to pick up Niall instead of Niall himself. Niall complains that he only ever comes over to see Louis anymore, but Louis just waves him off. _“Don’t be silly, Niall_ ,” he’ll say and check to see if his text has been read by Harry yet. 

Midterms creep up on all the boys, seemingly out of nowhere, and their books are, for once, actually open and being read. Harry’s at the kitchen table with Niall and they’re testing each other with the stack of note cards that Harry made the night before. Louis’ in the living room with his book open on his lap, paying more attention to the deep rumble of Harry’s voice than the text on the page. He’s been trying to come up with a good enough excuse to go in there for a while, but so far nothing’s coming to mind. 

Harry and Niall laugh in the kitchen. Louis sighs loudly and shuts his book, throwing it on the coffee table. There’s no way he’s going to be doing any studying tonight. Zayn flips a page beside him and watches Louis over the top of his book. 

_up for a study break?_ Louis texts, ignoring Zayn’s gaze, and waits for a phone to vibrate in the kitchen. 

The read notification pops up and Louis listens to Harry mumble something to Niall and the chair scrape against the floor as he stands up. Harry appears around the corner and Louis smiles, standing up from the sofa and shuffling over to the door. “We will be back,” Louis announces. He grabs his keys and shoves his feet into his shoes, heels hanging over the back. 

Harry follows dutifully and gets into the passenger seat when Louis unlocks the car doors. It’s the first time Harry’s been in his car since the first time they met and Louis smiles to himself and starts the car. 

“Where are we going?” Harry asks, buckling his seatbelt. 

“I don’t know, actually. Just figured we’d go for a drive. Couldn’t pay attention in there.” 

“Sorry,” Harry starts to apologize, but Louis waves off his concerns. 

“Wasn’t your fault,” he lies. Well, really it’s only partially a lie. It’s not Harry’s fault Louis is so obsessed with him. Louis needs to learn how to reign it in. 

They drive for a while as the sun sets slowly, singing along to what ever song comes on the radio and making fun of the people in the cars around them. After a while, Louis pulls off to the side of the road and turns off his car. 

Louis must look as off as he feels because Harry frowns and asks, “Are you nervous for your exams?” His face is pinched up and wrinkled like he’s concerned and Louis nods. Admitting he’s nervous for his midterms is far easier than admitting that he’s head over heels gone for Harry. 

“Uh, yeah,” Louis nods, smacking his lips together. “Not a good test taker, me.” 

Harry reaches over and grabs Louis’ hand from where it’s fiddling with the end of his jumper. “Hey, I’ll help you study when we get back, okay? You’re going to do great.” His eyes are wide and genuine and he’s holding Louis’ hand in his massive one and suddenly the car feels too small for the both of them. Harry rubs his thumb soothingly over Louis’ knuckles and leans forward. It’d be the perfect time to kiss him, Louis thinks. 

“I’m the _King_ of studying,” Harry tells him. “I can make a mnemonic out of anything.” 

Louis lets out a rush of breath and laughs, leaning backwards and taking his hand from Harry’s so he can start the car. “Of course you can. C’mon, it’s getting late. We should get back.” 

Later that week, every time Louis reads a question on his exam, he hears Harry’s dumb mnemonics in his head. He laughs out loud more than once and his teachers all glare at him numerous times, but Louis passes all of his exams, his lowest grade a C+. Harry Styles is a miracle worker and Louis adds _buy Harry a milkshake_ to his calendar so he can remember to thank him. 

-*-*-*-*-

Harry’s waiting for Niall to get dressed so they can go to class together and Louis’ looking for ways to procrastinate and put off the paper he’s got to write. They’re both sitting on the floor, backs against the sofa, mostly quiet. “Hey, Louis,” Harry nudges Louis’ arm with his elbow and Louis looks up expectantly. 

He’s got a dopey grin already plastered over his face and Louis knows he’s about to tell a dumb joke. He’s powerless to stop it. “I heard a really funny time traveling joke tomorrow,” Harry says and then bites down on his bottom lip like he’s trying to keep his laughter in, raising his eyebrows. 

Louis rolls his eyes exasperatedly, but laughs all the same. He’s ready to say something typical along the lines of _that was terrible_ , but the words die in his throat. Harry’s got one hand over his belly, his laughter finally breaking free, eyes screwed shut in glee. He looks ridiculous and wonderful and yeah, Louis thinks, Harry is _definitely_ the type of guy it’d be easy to fall in love with. 

-*-*-*-*-

Harry pushes his shopping cart down the aisle, stopping in front of the selection of spices to look over each one, seemingly deep in thought. Grocery shopping with Harry Styles is truly a wonderful experience. 

Harry had picked Louis up from his last class and brought him to the same store they met in front of, having to do a spot of shopping. Louis still has his backpack on— the same one he’s had since Freshman year that is now doodled over with sharpie from all of his friends, his glasses perched on his nose, and his unruly hair hidden underneath a beanie. 

Usually grocery shopping is a chore. Niall, Zayn, and Louis have a rotating schedule on their fridge to force themselves to do it and even then it’s done begrudgingly. Somehow, Harry manages to make the mundane task interesting. 

So far, Louis’ snuck three different packages of sweets into his cart and Harry is still none the wiser. It’s because he’s so engrossed in each item he picks up from the shelf, weirdly enough. When Louis buys food, he throws which ever brand is cheapest in the cart and is on his merry way. Grocery shopping to Harry is obviously a far more serious sport. He’s even got a little envelope of clipped coupons sticking out of his back pocket. 

Louis grabs a box of noodles off the shelf and throws them in the cart. Harry doesn’t look up from his spices. “Which one should I get?” he asks, holding up two almost identical jars. 

Louis steps closer and pretends to inspect them for a moment. He nods to himself and then points to the left. “This one, hands down, Harold. 

Harry tuts and holds the right one closer to his face. “But this one is better.” 

“Then why’d you ask me?” Louis throws his hands up, laughing and shaking his head. 

Harry smiles and shrugs, dropping the right jar into the cart and continuing on down the aisle. Louis hops on the end, holding onto the edge of the cart so Harry is pushing him as well. 

By the time they get to the checkout, Louis’ thrown in three boxes of Spiderman fruit snacks and some crackers shaped as Spongebob characters. He holds his breath when Harry finally steps forward to load the conveyor belt, waiting for the highly-anticipated moment of discovery. 

Except, Harry just loads all of Louis’ extra snacks with his own food and Louis frowns. Surely a person can’t be _that_ oblivious. “Harry,” Louis starts, upset that he has to ruin his own joke. He points to all the different packages on the belt next to Harry’s spices and bags of veggies and waits for the realization to sweep over him. 

Harry looks and then turns to Louis. He still isn’t reacting. “What? Do you want more?” 

Louis steps forward and grabs his things before the cashier can ring them up and shakes his head. “No, I don’t want any of this. It was a joke. You were supposed to laugh!” 

“Oh,” Harry says and pulls out his coupons for the lady behind the counter. “I thought you wanted them.” 

“So you were just going to buy me all this crap?” Louis asks incredulously, arms full of junk food. 

Harry shoots him a dazzling smile and nods. “Yeah, of course.” 

Louis’ cheeks feel warm and his heart beats a little fast in his chest, but he plays it off cooly. He shakes his head and laughs like Harry is the dumbest guy in the world. He dumps the food on the counter beside them and watches Harry make polite conversation with the woman who’s ringing him up and then go on to help the bag boy with his own groceries. 

When he turns back to Louis, he’s still staring, blue eyes soft and way too fond for a trip to the Grocery store. Harry gives a small laugh and tilts his head. “What?” 

Louis shakes his head and follows Harry quietly out to the car. 

Harry ends up cooking them dinner with his new spices while Louis does his homework at the kitchen table. It feels a lot like they could be dating and Louis spends the whole time tensed up, sneaking glances at Harry when he’s focused on something else and resisting every urge to grab him or hug him or find a way to touch him like he normally does.  

-*-*-*-*-

When Louis gets home later that night, it’s to Niall and Zayn watching a movie together on the couch with empty pizza boxes and cans of soda littering the coffee table. They both look up to greet Louis, but stop when they see the look on his face. Zayn pauses the movie and Louis throws his backpack on the ground and himself in the middle of his two roommates. 

“I love Harry Styles so much, you guys,” Louis whines, burying his head in a pillow. 

Niall laughs and pats Louis on the back. “You two are so cute. I don’t know why I didn’t think of introducing you sooner.” 

Louis twists so he can glare at Niall through one eye. “No, Niall, not cute. This is bad.” 

“Why is it bad?” Zayn asks, resting a hand over Louis’ shoulder. 

“Today we went grocery shopping,” Louis announces, pushing himself up on his arms so he can make eye contact with both Zayn and Niall and let them know how serious he is. “He brought me _grocery shopping._ ” 

“Okay,” Zayn says slowly. “And?” 

“We go grocery shopping together!” Louis cries. “And are you in love with me?” 

“I am,” Niall nods, smiling happily and opening his arms to hug Louis. 

Louis pushes him away with a glare and shakes his head. “No, Niall, you don’t count.” 

“Don’t tell Niall he doesn’t count,” Zayn scolds. Niall just shrugs, never one to be hurt by anything Louis says. He knows by now not to take him seriously. 

“Alright, mom,” Louis rolls his eyes. “But you’re missing the point. And that was just one example. Like, at our party, I implied that he should kiss me— I was totally giving him the signal, and he _didn’t_.” 

“You were smashed, bro,” Niall tells him. “Harry’s a good guy. I think you’re overreacting.” 

Louis stands up from the couch and makes sure to stare them both down so they know how upset he is that they aren’t agreeing with him. “You guys don’t get it. I’m going to my room. Don’t bother me unless it’s to comfort me and my broken heart,” he snaps and stomps away, ignoring the snickering behind him. 

-*-*-*-*-

Zayn knocks on his door a little bit later and Louis if fully expecting a nice heart to heart and cuddle. He curls up in his blankets and smiles at his best friend, wiggling to the side so he has room to lie down next to Louis. 

Zayn leans against the doorframe and looks over to Louis. “Niall wants to throw another party next weekend,” he tells him. 

Louis frowns and rolls over again so Zayn has no room to cuddle even if he wants to. “Sure,” he says, voice muffled under his blankets. 

Zayn nods and carries on to his own room. See if he gets a cuddle next time he has a fight with Perrie, Louis thinks bitterly, and sweeps his arm around his mattress until he finds his phone. 

_throwing a party next weekend. can you come ? x_ Louis sends to Harry and watches his screen until the _read_ stamp shows up underneath. It’s nice to know Harry never ignores Louis’ needs unlike his other friends. 

He waits patiently for the three dots signaling Harry’s typing to turn into actual words and smiles when he reads _yeah of course. should i bring more muffins or no? x_

_yesssss pleaseeeeeeee but only for me. nobody else. x_

_only for you xx_

-*-*-*-*-

For the first hour of the party, Louis waits on the sofa for Harry and his tray of muffins. Liam’s already here with the same pretty girl as last time, but Harry’s nowhere to be found and Louis is getting impatient. 

He puts his half-empty cup between his thighs and types out a text to Harry asking where he is. Much to his chagrin, the read notification pops up almost immediately followed by neither a little typing bubble nor an actual response. So Harry’s seen his text and either dropped dead immediately after or is ignoring him. Each option is equally as terrible. 

Louis locks his phone and downs the rest of his drink. 

-*-*-*-*-

Louis has his plastic wine glass out again, holding the stem in a fist above his head as he dances with the same beefy guy who was giving him the eyes in the kitchen earlier. He’s drunk and sour about the very noticeable lack of Harry, but the guy he’s dancing with is tall and has a nice smile, so it’s whatever. Louis’ trying to forget about it. 

The music is loud and trashy, it’s nearing midnight, and Louis’ phone is still blank and devoid of new text messages. He hates that he’s spending his night pining over a guy, upset just because he didn’t answer a text and didn’t show up to his party. A couple of months ago, if a guy ignored Louis’ text or blew him off, he’d pout for a few minutes and move on just as quickly. Harry’s completely ruined him.

The guy, whose name Louis is still not certain of, grabs at his hips and Louis spills a splash of his drink down the front of him. He giggles and thinks of Harry and his stupid tissues before he _realizes_ he’s thinking of Harry and loops his free arm around the guys neck. “I always do that,” Louis slurs and the guy laughs in return.

Louis’ nameless dancing partner leans down to kiss him and Louis lets it happen, kissing him back sloppily and hating himself when he finds that the only thing he can think of is how much better of a kisser Harry probably is. He’s got the perfect lips for it, soft and pink and Louis tightens his hold around the guys neck, pressing his body closer. 

He doesn’t hear his text tone over the music or hear Niall calling Harry’s name in greeting; only registering the fact that Harry made it to the party when Louis pulls back for some air and spots him across the room with a deep frown over those same lips he was just thinking about. Louis jerks his head back when the guy moves to connect their lips again and watches as Harry tears his eyes away from him, hands Niall the platter of muffins and turns around to leave the room. 

Anonymous beefy kissing partner moves down to kiss Louis’ jawline, but Louis pushes him away gently and untangles their bodies. He doesn’t go after Harry because he has no reason to. They aren’t dating or anything. 

-*-*-*-*-

“Fuck off,” Louis snaps. He’s already tired of Niall’s stares and he's only been in the kitchen for two minutes. 

He woke up this morning with a headache and without a glass of water by his bedside or a text on his phone. He’s in a decidedly bad mood and Niall’s stupid looks aren’t helping _at all_. 

“I didn’t say anything,” Niall says and raises his hands in defense, fork waving in his left as he’s in the middle of eating some type of noodle dish. 

“You didn’t have to.” Louis swallows the last gulp of water from his cup and throws it in the sink. It lands beside Louis’ purple wine glass and he grimaces. The house is a mess and he’s definitely not in the mood for a post-party clean up. Especially if he has to do it with Niall’s judgmental glances. 

“Have you talked to Harry?” Niall asks, slurping up a noodle obnoxiously.  

Louis scoffs. “I just woke up, what do you think?” He’s being snippier than he needs to be, but he can’t help it. 

“You should talk to him. He was upset last night,” Niall tells him and Louis whirls around. 

“I don’t know why he would be,” he throws his hands up. “Nothing happened.” 

“If nothing happened then why do you feel guilty? You’re being such a moody little shit about this.” 

Louis quiets down at that, left without a comeback or any explanation. He gives Niall a dirty look and storms back to his room and back to his warm bed. He does feel guilty and he feels like he has something to apologize for, but _technically_ he _doesn’t_. And he’s not sure what he’s angrier at: the fact that he’s all messed up about it without a reason or the fact that they aren’t together in the first place. 

As much as he’d like to mourn and mull over his feelings and all that bullshit, Louis’ got a headache and it’s growing steadily and it’s far too early in the first place for all of this. He’s got a lot of work awaiting him, but it’s Saturday and he’s going to sleep the day away. 

-*-*-*-*-

Harry hasn’t texted him all weekend and as petulant as Louis is, he doesn’t initiate a conversation either. But it’s Tuesday and Harry always comes to pick Niall up on Tuesdays so he’s going to be _forced_ to make conversation with him whether he likes it or not. 

Louis sits in his favorite spot on his couch and waits, phone sitting on the arm rest in case Harry decides to text him and let him know when he’s going to be here. Louis doubts he’ll break his streak of silence, but Louis also likes to think of himself as an optimist so here’s to hoping. He puts on Netflix, pretends to pay attention, and waits for Harry to come over. 

It’s when there’s only a half an hour before their class that Harry walks in and for the first time in months, he looks unsure and out of place. His expression rivals that of the one he donned when he realized he was in the wrong car and Louis swallows hard. "Hey," he starts. "Running late today?” Usually Harry’s anywhere from two hours to an hour early. 

Louis’ not that dumb. He knows Harry is probably here later than normal because he’s avoiding Louis, but Louis gives him the benefit of the doubt anyway. 

Harry steps further into the room, but doesn't move to sit beside Louis or take his jacket off. He pushes his hands in his pockets and shrugs. "No, not really." 

"Oh," Louis says. It's so tense and awkward, both the conversation and the atmosphere. "How are you? We didn't chat all weekend," he tries, hoping and praying that Harry will loosen up and give him a brilliant smile. 

Harry looks down at his phone to check the time or his texts or something and then back up at Louis. "Fine, you?" he says, polite as ever, and shrugs. 

"Are you mad at me?" Louis asks. 

Niall walks into the room then, patting Harry's shoulder in greeting. Harry finally smiles, but it's for Niall only and yeah, that sort of hurts. "Ready to go?" he asks and Harry nods. 

Harry looks over to Louis and offers him a half-smile and a tip of his head. "Bye Louis," he says and then follows Niall out the door. 

Louis sits on the couch for a long while after, feeling sorry for himself and moping. So much for forcing some conversation.  

-*-*-*-*-

"Why don't you just call him?" Zayn asks, taking his cigarette out from behind his ear, but not lighting it. It's pouring rain and Louis doesn't let him smoke in the car unless the windows are rolled down. Apparently Zayn doesn't want to smoke enough to risk the rain. "I don't get what the problem is in the first place."

Louis turns into the grocery parking lot and let's out a low breath. "I don't know, things have been weird since he saw me kiss that guy at the party. I think he's mad at me." Despite the rain and the fact that it's late in the evening, the parking lot is nearly full and Louis circles around again to find a spot. 

"He's probably more hurt than mad, babe," Zayn says and Louis' stomach swirls uncomfortably at that. He'd take angry Harry Styles over sad Harry Styles any day. He’s never seen Harry cry and he figures if he ever does it’ll be the death of him. ”You’d be the same if you saw him kissing somebody."

Louis presses his lips together in a flat line and breathes heavily through his nose. He wants to say _it's not the same_ , but he's not sure of anything anymore. He also really wants to find a parking spot so they can get these errands over with and Louis can crawl back in bed and mope some more. 

Louis’ about to circle around again when Zayn points ahead of them. “There’s one right there.” 

The relief only lasts for a brief second before he’s washed over with shock. Parked in the spot to the left is none other than Liam Payne’s car. And on top of that, Harry’s sitting idly by in the passengers seat, looking down at his lap. He’s probably looking through instagram or something, completely oblivious to the world around him as Liam runs in for something, and Louis can’t tear his eyes away. If this isn’t a huge, glaring sign from the universe, then Louis’ not sure what is. 

“Zayn,” Louis starts, oddly reminiscent of the first time he met Harry. “You’re going to have to go in by yourself.” 

Zayn starts to protest, but Louis gets out of the car and slams the door on his complaints, not paying him any attention. He fleetingly acknowledges and appreciates the dramatics that the pouring rain adds to this all and steels himself before opening the drivers side door. Thankfully, it’s not locked. That would be _so_ terribly embarrassing. 

By the time Louis is settled in the seat and turning to Harry, Harry’s already staring at him with those same wide, wide green eyes from the first time. “Louis- what?” 

“Now who’s stalking who, eh?” Louis jokes and cheers inwardly when he gets a smile out of Harry. It’s barely there, but Louis’ll take anything at this point. 

“What’s going on?” Harry asks. He’s bundled up in a warm looking jumper and he’s got all of his hair tied up in a bun. He looks gorgeous and Louis curls his fingers around the steering wheel. It’s been a mere week and he’s missed him _so_ much. 

“I could ask you the same question,” Louis says. 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Harry doesn’t look at him when he says it and Louis huffs out a large breath. 

It’s going to be like pulling teeth if he keeps at it like he is and Liam could come back out to the car any minute. So, Louis decides to just throw it all out there and see what happens. It’s not like there’s anything at stake here— Harry’s already pulling away. Plus, he’s always been a big believer in fate and hopefully that won’t fail him now. 

“Listen, Harry,” Louis starts and puts his hand over the center console just in case Harry is moved at any point of his confession and wants to hold it. “I like you. Like, a _lot_. And I have since the first time you broke into my car. Basically, I’m saying that it’d be pretty sick if you let me kiss you. But also, it’d be cool if you just wanted to be friends too. Anything really. I really missed you this past week and I’m kind of over the whole avoiding each other thing.” 

Harry gaze has turned a lot more intense and he tilts his head. “But you were kissing that guy,” he starts and Louis shakes his head. 

“Honestly, I don’t even know the guy’s name. I was drunk and upset that you hadn’t shown up and very much gone for you and it was just a whole mix of things that lead to bad decisions,” Louis tells him sincerely, hoping Harry knows he’s telling him the truth. “Was just a silly kiss, though, nothing else. You’re the only person I’ve wanted to kiss since September.” 

The only response is the sound of the rain beating against the windshield as Harry stares at Louis, probably processing the new information. Louis’ palms feel clammy and his mouth feels dry and he’s not sure if he should wait for Harry to say something or if he should get out of the car now because Harry’s not _going_ to say anything. 

But then Harry smiles and he grabs Louis’ hand over the center console and leans closer. “Yeah? Since September?” 

Louis swallows dryly and nods. “Yeah. I’m pretty sure I told you to kiss me once, too.” 

Harry’s eyes flicker down to Louis’ lips and then back up to his eyes. “You were under the influence,” he says, his voice more breathy than normal. Louis swears he can feel the rumble of it in his chest. It’s maddening. 

“Still,” Louis argues. He’s not exactly sure why they’re choosing to have this conversation _this_ close, but he’s not about to pull away. He’s even less sure why neither of them are closing the gap between their lips. 

“Tell me again, then,” Harry says and he closes his eyes, bumping his nose with Louis’. He’s so close that Louis can feel the breath of his words across his upper lip. 

Louis heart is beating so fast he’s surprised it hasn’t broken a rib, but he keeps his cool exterior down pact. “You should kiss me,” Louis tells him and grabs onto Harry’s shoulder when finally, _finally_ he does. 

The center console is digging into his side and his spine is twisted painfully, but overall it’s pretty damn magical. Especially with the torrential downpour battering the tiny car. Harry’s hand is spread over his waist and Louis’ trying to ignore the wide span of it because that would take his mind somewhere far too inappropriate for a first kiss. 

A knock on the window startles them both out of the kiss, though Louis stays close enough to make sure they’re breathing the same air. “Hello,” Liam says through the glass with a small wave. “Er.. sorry to interrupt, but I’m getting soaked and I’d like to get in.” His hair is sticking to his forehead and he looks like a sad, wet puppy dog. Louis wonders how long he’s waited outside the window, contemplating knocking. 

Louis laughs breathlessly, lungs still out of air after the kiss, and starts to pull out of Harry’s grip. “N _o,_ ” Harry groans, dragging out the vowel. “Stay.” 

He pats Harry’s cheek and gives him another chaste kiss. “Why don’t you come over later? We can talk more then, okay? I need to let Liam in his car before he catches his death, alright love?” Harry nods, looking as reluctant to let go of Louis as Louis feels to leave, but they both somehow find the strength to manage. 

Back in his own car, Louis can’t wipe the dopey smile off his face. The story of how they met is going to be a great fucking story to tell at their wedding one day. 

 

**Author's Note:**

> [this is my tumblr!](http://www.fackinglouis.tumblr.com) thank you for reading :)))))


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